BBB warns customers about South Plains roofing company

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) – The Better Business Bureau is warning customers about a South Plains roofing company. Several local customers put down a large deposit for materials and now months later they are still waiting for the work to be done. The Hartley Roofing Company's BBB rating went from a B+ to an F at the end of December.

"We were planning on doing it sometime in November," says Fred Kennedy about the plans to make repairs to his roof. Hail totaled his roof last spring, there were no leaks but it still needed to be fixed. On November 7th, Kennedy signed a contract with Hartley Roofing for the repairs and put a deposit of 60 percent or $11,000 for materials.

In early December he says he became concerned about the job. "I decided that I didn't want to do business anymore and I wanted my money back," says Kennedy. He adds that the only person who communicated and helped him was his sales representative Doug Ruder who at the time was a sub-contractor with Hartley Roofing.

"The legal thing I'm required to do is send a certified letter," says Kennedy who addressed the certified letter to Owner Shadd Friday and sent it to the company's operating address in Littlefield. He was also required to pay a five percent of the total contract price for breaking the contract which he say he was willing to do. His letter was never claimed and returned unsigned days later.

Two other Lubbock families signed contracts and wrote deposit checks for $6818.47 and $3116.63. They are still waiting on refunds and repairs, but all three know their checks were deposited into Hartley accounts according to copies of their checks. "We gave them a check in November and at that time they had a good rating with BBB," says Kennedy.

"We do not report on complaints that have not been closed. A BBB rating can change at any time," says the South Plains BBB President Nan Campbell. Campbell says Hartley's rating dropped from a B+ to an F citing the company failed to return calls and address customer's complaints.

"A company that doesn't respond to their own consumer's complaint has real problems," says Campbell who closed three complaints against the company this year and legally cannot release information about pending complaints.

"You don't not return calls and you don't not accept certified letters. The bottom line is contractually that money is supposed to be available to us if we want it and we haven't seen a penny of it," added Kennedy, a businessman himself.

"I found out they were spending material deposits on other things and I got away it's dishonest," says Ruder who has since opened his own roofing company.

In an e-mailed statement to KCBD NewsChannel 11, a Hartley Roofing employee says the problem with these roofing jobs is the fault of a former sales representative. The owner of the company, Shadd Friday did not return a voicemail left for him. "I wasn't disgruntled. I just found out they were a crooked company and I got away from them," added Ruder. Kennedy wants his money back and his roof repaired. "This is insurance money but if I don't get this I'll be paying that out of my own pocket," adds Kennedy.

The BBB says the company has yet to return phone calls. They encourage anyone who may have a contract to contact them. There are similar complaints in Colorado and El Paso. Copies of the roofing contracts list the names of multiple sales representatives who drafted those contracts. Hartley says it is in the process of contacting homeowners and complying with its contracts.

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